Ray Davies at The Egg, 11/23/09

By GREG HAYMES
Special to the Times Union
ALBANY – Ray Davies is one of the most under-rated rock songsmiths – that is, if it’s possible to be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with a stack of Top 20 hits to your credit and still be considered under-rated. As one of the generals of the British Invasion of the ’60s, Davies racked up a constant stream of hits as the Kinks’ bandleader, but rarely is the band ever discussed these days in the same reverent tones that baby-boomer fans reserve for the Beatles, the Stones or the Who.
On Monday evening, Davies walked out on stage, strapped on an acoustic guitar, nestled into his center-stage stool and launched into the Kinks classic “I Need You,” with Bill Shanley strumming his acoustic alongside him.
“We’re going to have a good time tonight. Are you OK?,” he asked the capacity crowd at The Egg. “It’s really nice to be in Albany. That’s where we are, right?”
And the crowd roared back in response as Davies ran through nuggets from the Kinks’ catalog, one after another. There was the declaratory “I’m Not Like Everybody Else.” The neanderthal “Apeman.” And the shimmering “Waterloo Sunset.” With Shanley providing some surprisingly effective jazz riffs, Davies worked “Sunny Afternoon” into a anthemic sing-along.
He introduced “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” as “a little English folk song,” and then sang the second verse as a Johnny Cash impersonation. Clearly, Davies was having a good time, and so was the crowd.
But Davies wasn’t entrenched in the past. He also served up several songs from his latest solo album, “Working Man’s Cafe,” including the spiritual “Hymn for a New Age.”
And that was just the half of it. After the first nine or ten tunes, Davies abandoned the stool, Shanley switched to electric guitar and the rest of the band joined them onstage for the second half of the show, starting with the nostalgic, bittersweet ode to Hollywood, “Celluloid Heroes.” They churned through most of the big Kinks hits – though “Lola” was conspicuous in it absence – from “All Day and All of the Night” to “Well Respected Man” to “Come Dancing.”
But in truth, it was Davies’ lesser known work that shone the brightest on Monday, including the reconciliation ballad “Moments,” so obscure that until recently, Davies had forgotten that he wrote it. “After the Fall,” from Davies’ 2006 solo album, “Other People’s Lives,” showed how much Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits were influenced by the Kinks. And “The Tourist,” from that same album, settled into the night’s funkiest soul groove before exploding into genuine rock frenzy.
In the end, the string of encores led to its logical conclusion, “You Really Got Me,” which began as a greasy swamp blues before rekindling the song’s original feral fire. Yeah, Ray, you really got me, too.
*
Ray Davies
With Christina Courtin
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23
Where: The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany
Musical highlights: “Waterloo Sunset,” “Moments,” “The Tourist,” “Days”
Length: Davies – 110 minutes; Courtin – 30 minutes
The crowd: A capacity crowd of boomers
*
Greg Haymes is a freelance writer, who fondly remembers buying a used jukebox 45 of the Kinks’ “Long Tall Sally” at Woolworth’s for a dime when he was in junior high school.

16 Responses

Great show at The EGG by another rock legend. The Egg is a world class and unique venue (once you figure out how to get in the place!).
Hey Greg, I’ll bet you can still dance to that old Woolworth’s bought Kinks 45 RPM although you might get a little winded during the Dave Davies guitar solo.

Happily, for whatever reason, Ray seems to fancy this area. The Kinks always made The Palace a stop on their tours and even though this mini-tour only consists of eight stops in otherwise major cities, we were fortunate to somehow have Albany as one of them.

We didn’t get the chorus performance that New York and Philly got, most likely for economic reasons, and while that was unfortunate given the rave reviews that those shows got (especially the Village Green portions) it was hard to complain about the show that Ray put on here.

Ray was every bit as charming and playful as he was back in the “Soap Opera” days, even testing the audience’s knowledge of the more obscure parts of the Kinks Katalogue with a few lines of “Ducks On the Wall”, which many were able to join in with. The band gave many of the newer solo numbers an edge not found in Ray’s acoustic performances as well.

It was as energetic and enjoyable a performance as one could ask for, especially compared to other performers of Ray’s vintage who have visited the area, and he proved to one and all that there is still plenty left in the tank. Thanks to Ray for yet another special evening.

Ray’s introduction to “Come Dancing”; “I’m sorry that I ever wrote it”- made the song worth it. And “A long Way from Home” from Lola vs. The Powerman record was spectacular, despite not having Dave singing the high harmony. Ray was great, as always, but I wish that he and Dave can play together again. But Dave would never stand behind him on stage like these band members did.

I can’t really add to the great review of this best I’ve ever seen Ray Davies show other than the intro to “You Really Got Me” sounded exactly like the Kinks “Gallon Of Gas”. Ray truly looked like he didn’t want to leave.

Ray Davies is one of my favorite artists and he did not disappoint with his concert last night. He was in top form and was a ball of energy the entire show. I was so happy to hear many of the old classics, including “Well Respected Man”, “Days” and “Celluloid Heroes”. Thanks to Ray and The Egg for a fantastic night of rock!

Anyone keep a set list from last night? I attended, and as a half-assed Kinks fan (enjoyed their music at the time, but never sought them out) I loved the concert. Am trying to identify a slower, prayerful song among the encores, suspect it was off a solo album.

setlist
(Acoustic Session 2 guitars)
01 I Need you
02 I’m Not Like Everybody Else
03 Apeman
04 In A Moment
05 Hymn To The New Age
06 Waterloo Sunset
07 Better Things
08 Sunny Afternoon
09 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
10 A Long Way From Home (+ accordian & female backup singer)
Band Session
11 Celluloid Heroes
12 Till The End Of The Day
13 Where Have All The Good Times Gone
14 After The Fall
15 A Well Respected Man
16 One More Time
17 Viet Nam Cowboy > Apache (instrumental break)
18 The Tourist
19 Come Dancing
20 Moments
21 20th Century Man
Encore
22 All Day And All Of The Night
23 The Getaway
24 Days
25 You Really Got Me

Great show from one of the most underrated performers/songwriters of the rocknroll era.Nice to see someone not just intent on going thru the motions.Sunny Afternoon and Celluloid Heroes were the less famous gems they are.

Was a great show – one of my all-time best shows. Was sorry the perfomance did not include any tracks from my favorite Kinks album, Arthur… a long neglected & forgotten rock opera gem. And, of course Lola was missing, but I’ve heard Ray dislikes the song immensely.

Truly one of the best concerts I have ever had the pleasure to attend. Ray knows how to engage a crowd, and was in fine voice. I am verry interested in seeing one of the choral shows now, so that I can hear Village Green and Arthur tunes live.